Retractable landing gear



Jan. 23, 1951 E. v. MISULIS RETRACTABLE LANDING GEAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 5, 1948 Edward V. Misulis INVENTOR.

HIS PATENT ATTORNEY Jan. 23, 1951 E. v. MlSULlS RETRACTABLE LANDING GEAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 5, 1948 Edward V. Misulis INVENTOR.

HIS PATENT ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 23,1951

RETRACTABLE LANDING GEAR- Edward: V; Misuiis. B f -i. N- assi nor; t Curtiss-Wright Corporation, a corporation of la re Application February 5, 1348; Serial No, 6,487 8 Giants! 1 The present invention relates: generally to landing gears for aircraft and more particu-l larly to improvedfairings for retractable land-. ing gears;

As a result. of the-greatly. increased velocities required of modern aircraft, and more particulary combat or military-airplanes, the necessity-- for fairing the retractable landing gear unitshas attained much greaterimportance and; prominence in aircraft design. Because of the need for presenting a smooth surface when the landing gear is-retracted; it has become increasing y importantto utilize simple, strong and effficientlinks c iapable of, withstanding the high airloads which tend to lift; the door or fairing ofi the structure.

One of e mo t riti al a is fthe. le i ea r n s that p r ion. w ichx er the. owe r e lgp mn or hichcove sthenaxt. of the gear which. contacts the ground. This fairing no tion s sub ecto.the ecess y hat t s not xt ndbe ond the wheel when, ex: tended. but. must. pre erably exte d b ond.

ircr ft. lan n a a ra g en s e WhQQl. is usually retracted laterally, inboard; from its extendedposition. Atthe present time, themore common methods of fairing the landing gear; deal with the lower, ,orwheel, portion oftlie gear as follows; (1'), Elimination of. the, portionofi the fairingcovering thelower gear portion; 2), Wherea door is used, rpivoting or collapsing zthis lower door onthe upper portion of thefairing (3.); Using a; one-piece fairing. which is, raised for suitable ground clearance;- l) Splitting the; fairing, with the lowerportion being pivoted upon? the structure.

The latter, or fourth, typeof fairing instal: lation is quite commonlyused; becauseof the aerodynamic cleanness made possiblerby I having astrong rigid door that-will notreadily deflect; due to the airloads imposed; at higher speeds; The actuation of such doors; in the proper sequence has, however, presented severalmajor; problems. These-problems are contributedgto by; the fact that the initial rateof door movement must, be very great to-prevent. itsinter-ference with the wheel and tire on the pivoting main landing gear strut; Following-thisrinitial rapid movement the door -must' beheld rigid in theopen position until the gear is almost entirely: retracted, and. then the fairing door: must be rapidlyclosed" andheld firmly. closed against:-.

aerodynamic. forces which are.- tr-ying-toopen it: Ell-Torts have been made to accomplish. this. ac-U tuation by means oflinks and mechanism from the main retracting-linkage, but sueh .pr-ior linkage systems and the necessary actuating" forces presented numerousdifiiculties which were not comp etely overcome. The use :of a hydrauliqor: eleptric-jack strut. was also employedwithasew qu n e. h n mo; a sur p p ina but; these; units invariably; developed trouble; and ca sed the-malfunctioning of many landing gear Anot er; approach: involved the; use; of a roller; r--r l2b ns t ip an a m h ch .actuatediand: locked the door, as a resultof; contact.with;the;v wheel, daring-retraction andextension. Insuch installations, however; linkage difiicultieswere alsoharzi; toovercome because of the small-mg. men-t armswhich were; av-ailable,-, ther impacgti andwear were serious due: to contactvwith the; rapidly-rotating wheel; and-*flat orsoft tilf$firff6rouently: allowed the fairingrto-open prematurely. during flight. 'Ifhese installations also made the S610? locking mechanisms necessary for. both terminar positions and; these mechanisms-freq-uentgyv involved complicated arrangements. which were costly and subject to faulty operation.

It; isaccordingly a major object: of-the present; inventionto provide'a'simpl'e, rugged fairing foran aircraft: landing gear. It "is another ob;ect to provide an inboard la'nding'gear fairing portion which. is operated automatically-and, mechanically from the retracting and ext ending; movements of the landing gear. A still further object ofithis' invention is the provision of alanding gear fairing mechanism for a lower, or: wheel portion; which fairing 'mechanism is rela tive;ysimple in construction and" can'be'sel'ec tiveiy resiliently biased toward-its open orclosedj position. it is still a further objective oi the present invention to provide a landing gear fair ing doorwhich is actuated by the retracting tion of the landing "gea itself and yet does not require a complicated actuating mechanism. is a further object to provide a fairing door which has a high initial rate of movement to .av ri m i t e and ear. a d. er or vide animprovedlocking mechanism for; its closed position. Qt e bj ts nd a vantagesof. the present; v ntion Wi e ome parent to those. skilled. in the art after a reading of the following de sr pt qn ak n together. with the accom anyin dra n s form ng. a partheree vin which;

Figural is ajpersp ective ew of an airplap having-- a retractable landing. gear onwhichlthe. present improved fai ing means isshoyvn applied; Figure-2 is an enlarged front elevational" View, 1' partly broken away, ofthe fairingginstallafti n as applied to the-airplane in Figural; V

Figure 3 is an enlarged detailed plan viewofdoor shown in the-preceding figures;

Figure 4 is an elevational view of the fairing door locking mechanism shown in Figure 3, as viewed looking outboard;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the door locking mechanism as taken along the lines 55 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is an enlarged elevational view illustrating the actuating linkage for the fairing door as viewed looking rearwardly; and

Figure 7 is a projected view of the actuating linkage shown in Figure 6.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, the numeral 8 indicates the fuselage portion of an airplane provided with laterally extending wings 9, and a laterally inwardly retractable landing gear 23 provided with fairing doors Ill, II and !2. In these figures, the landing gear assembly is indicated by the numeral 29, being retracted by suitable mechanism laterally and inwardly into the recess or compartment R, with its wheel portion within the wing root portion adjacent the fuselage 8. In thesame figures, the numeral 30 indicates the actuating linkage or folding strut assembly for the automatic actuation of the inboard fairing door it).

As more particularly shown in Figure 2, it will be noted that the inboard fairin door H3 is pivotally mounted at its inboard edge on the fuselage structure 8 by means of a pivotal connection at 22. The landing gear assembly 2% may otherwise be of a conventional type, the cylinder portion of the main strut it being pivotally mounted upon the wing structure at 13p and is provided with suitable retracting mechanism and controls, as well as means for locking the gear in its terminal positions. The upper portion of the wheel fairing or inter-door I I is rigidly attached to the wheel-carrying piston portion of the landing gear strut l3, adjacent the upper portion of the Wheel W, and the upper strut fairing mem ber I2 is pivotally attached to the link 2! by means of the pivot l5 and the link is in turn pivotally attached to the strut l3 by means of the pivotal connection i6. This latter pivotal connection is made to the strut member i3 through the link 2! adjacent the lower portion of the upper strut fairing l2, and its upper portion is pivotally connected to the wing structure at the pivot M. It will accordingly be noted that the closure for the recess or opening R provided in the undersurface of the wing 9 and the adjacent portion of the fuselage 8 is comprised of an inboard fairing door member H) pivotally carried upon the fuselage 8, the interm diate fairing member H, and the upper strut fairing member l2, the latter two portions of which are carried essentially by the retractable landing gear assembly 20, except for the pivotation upon the wing at 14.

The upper strut fairing member i2 overlaps the fixed wheel fairing ii at the lap joint 19 and is in turn recessed under the wing structure skin at l8 when it is retracted with the landing gear, such that a smooth and continuous wing undersurface is presented to the airstream. In Figure 2, the landing gear is shown fully retraoted in the full line indication of the gear as well as the fairing door units, and in this figure there is also shown in phantom the relative position of the fairing units and their actuating linkages in the operative position of the landing gear.

For the inboard door construction and actuating details, reference is now made to Figure 6 4 which illustrates the inboard fairing door I!) in the extended position as rotated downwardly and outwardly about its inboard pivot 22 such that its outer edge 23 is moved sumciently downwardly and inwardly to permit the extending wheel W to clear the same. As shown inthis figure, the inboard door it and its actuating linkage assembly 353 is about to be engaged by the upwardly moving door actuator 24 on the fixed wheel fairing member 5 i, carried by the landing gear. As has been previously indicated, the inboard fairing door ifl is pivotally mounted on the fuselage structure at 22 and is braced in both its open and closed positions by the actuating link assembly 3;: which is pivotally attached to the door iii at the pivot and at its outer end to the wing structure 9 at the pivot 2?. The link assembly 38 consists of the outer member 25 and the inner member 28 intermediately pivoted at 29. The outer link member 25 has formed thereon the upwardly extending support 3| which serves as the outer anchorage or terminal for 'ie pair of biasing springs or other resilient means 32 and 33, which are pivotally attached at their opposite terminals to the transverse pin 34 carried by the link member 28.

The outer link element 25 of the linkage as sembly 3% also has fixedly carried thereby the hook fitting 35 adapted to be engaged by the door actuator 24; and the swinging end of the link member 25 is provided with the face stop 36 for engaging the face stop Til on the adjacent end of the member 28. These face stops 36 and 31 serve to limit the rotation of the links 25 and 28 about their common intermediate pivot 29 under the influence of the biasing springs 32 and 33, which cause the links to be resiliently held in their aligned position, as shown in Figure 6, in which these face stops are in abutting contact. The inboard end of the link member 28 is provided with an adjustable terminal 38 by means of which the effective length of the link assembly 38 between the pivots 26 and 21 can be adjusted for the predetermined positioning of the door it. As the wheel fairing door element I! is carried by the landing gear assembly 29 in its retracting upward movement indicated by the arrow in Figure 6, the member 2% carried on the fairing unit it engages the hook fitting 35 cansing the link assembly 3-3 to break upwardly about its intermediate pivot 29. This breaking of the linkage assembly 36 causes the upper link 25 to pivot clockwise from the wing pivot connection 2i and the lower link member 28 to pivot counterclockwise about the pivot connection 25 to the door if thereby causing the door ii] to be folded or rotated counterclockwise about its pivotal connection 22. When the axis of the resilient means 32 and 33 passes to the other side of the common intermediate pivot 29 of the links 25 and 28, the resilient means serves to bias and accelerate the folding of the links and the movement of the inboard fairing door I ll upwardly toward the closed position shown in the full lines in Figure 2.

Reference is now made to Figures 1 and 2 for the location of the inboard fairing door lock assembly %0, which is disposed at the outer edge 23 of the inboard door iii, being shown in detail in Figures 3, i, and 5. The lock assembly 46 is supported from the bracket M which is attached to the door in and its backing framework Illa by means of the attachment bolts tile. The attachment through the backing panel 10a includes an adjustment shim Mia, and the attachment at 5 the flange edge of the iramework Ma is made throughan angle member dflb as well as afurther shim ltd, these shims permitting accurate ad Justment of the ea-mining latch roller '42 carried by the bracket 4| his lock assembly 40 is composed of the locking roller :42 on the support bracket 1! mounted on the inboard door H], as also shown in Figure '6, and the actuating mechanism is jpivotal'ly carried on the 'Wing "structure bracket d3, attached to the structure by the bolts Be. An actuating beli crank' l is spivotal'ly mounted the bracket 43 at the pivot 45 and is actuated by an electric jackscre'w '48 which pivota-lly attaches to it at the point 47 and is in turn .pivo-tally mounted 'on the wing structure at the pivot .point =52. -A rod member -49 is pivota'llyattached to the bell crank itl at the pivot 51 and its opposite end '55 is slidable into the wing structure due to the slot "53 in the rod 49. The rod is provided with a co-axially disposed coil spring,

01' other resilient means 4 8, which resiliently -pposes the jackscrew to in'sur'e thatthe locking members are en'gagedat'all times except when the iackscrew it moves the :same to the inoperative position.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 5, it will be noteo that the hook assembly 51? is pivotally supported in the structural bracket 53, carried by the 'Wing structured). The member 54 of the hook assembly 513 forms the actuating arm for the hook assembly and is rigidly attached to the pivotal shaft member 4 5 to which the bell-crank M is also rigidly attached. The arm member 54 is pivotally attached to the hook member 55 at "the pivot 5'! and the hook member 58 is pivotal and slidable along the slot 56a and-on' the structure at the pivot point '58. It wiil accordingly be'seen that as the door i0 is closed, the hook member 56 is 'cammed-by the roller-member 42't'o'the open posi tion against the action of the resilient means 48, which after the door ll! has "been fully closed, 'forces the hook member '56 into the locked position. When' the landing gear is "to be again extended, actuation "of the jackscrew 46 trips the.

aligned, the biasing springs 3 233,'as they pass the dead-center of their cbminon'pivot'29,assert their influence and align the struts and 28 into the position shown in Figure 6 This has 'the effect of impartinga highinitialrate of movement of the door H! such that an opening with ample clearance is provided for the extending Wheel W; and it simultaneously serves to accelerate the movement of the'hook'me'mber such that it is disengaged from the detentmember 24, thus freeingthe landing gear assembly and its associated -fairing doors from the actuating mech- 'anism' for the inner door 'li'll.

As the extension or the landinggear assembly is continued, the inner doorassembly I 0 is maintained in its fully openedposition by-theactuating strut assembly 38 'andithe fair'ing-doors l l and T2 are separated due to the landin'gtgear pivotation. Asindicated above, the intermediate fairing doorll is fixedly attached to the wheel-carry ing or piston element of the landing..gear. and

. terminal pivots i5 and l-ii.

theou-ter or upper strut fairing door 4 2 pivotal ly mounted to the wing structure at the pivot H, and to the strut cylinder by the link 21 and its Accordingly, as the landing gear assembly is pivoted downwardly toward its operative position, the pivot mounting of the fairing door t2 causes its .loWer end to be separated ,from the adjacent door It thereby opening the intermediate joint i9, as well as the outer joint l8 at the undersuriace of the wing. I he clearance provided by the separation of "the fairing units l l and 12 at their intermediate joint '59 permits the telescoping shock absorbing action of the shock absorber strut Iii, which is shown in the partially compacted or loaded condition in the dotted lines in'Figur'e 2. It will be understood that the landing gear assembly 21!! is pro:- vided with power-actuated mechanism for To.- ta't'ing the same about the pivot lisp between its retracted and extended positions and that suitable looks (with which the jackscrew #6 is prefer- :a'bly electrically interlocked), may be utilized for retaining the landing gear in its terminal positions. Tests have shown that the electric flackscrew 56 is much more satisfactory than the use '01" an electricsolenoid which developed consider able heat during cycling tests of the landing'gear and as a result its available pulling power was reduced to an unacceptable degree. A simila-fly operated landing gear and iai-ringdoor installation is also provided on the opposite side oi the airplane.

"Other iorms and modifications of the present invention both with respect to its general 'arrangement and the details of its respective parts,

are intended to come Within the scope and spirit of the present invention as more particularly defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a retractable landing gear installation for an aircraft, a landing gear assembly, 'a retraction recess within the aircraft, means for retracting said landing gear "assembly into said retraction recess, upper fairing means carried by said landing gear assembly for closing a portion of said'retraction recess, lower fairingmeans pivr ot'all'y mounted upon the aircraft and arranged 'for the "automatic opening and closing of the remainderof said retraction recessup'on extension and'retraction of said landing gear, and resilient- 1y biased breaking strut means for maintaining said lower fairing means open 'and'c'losed in the operative and retracted positions of the landing gear. s p 7 2. In an aircraft includ ng a retractable landing gear having a \i heel-oarrying strut, said strut pivotally mounted upon the aircraft arrangedto move laterally inwardly to its retracted position, said aircraft having a recess within which said retractable landinggear is arranged to be retracted, a fairing assembly carried by saidland- 'ing gear strut arranged to move therewith for closing a first portion of said retraction recess and a fairing doorrpivotally carriedvby the aircraft, the improvement of spring biasedbreaking-strut means pivotally interconnecting said fairing door with said aircraft arranged for actuation by retraction of said landinggear for the closing of the remaining inboard ortionof said retraction recess within the aircraftlbysaid interconnected fairing .door, detent means carried. by said landing gear, and:hock means.carried by said breaking-strut means adjacent said pivotal connection to said aircraft engageable by :said detent -means carried 'by-said landing gearifor the initial opening of said fairing door at a otally carried upon the aircraft arranged for automatic movement into its open and closed positions initiated by extension and retraction movements of said landing gear, strut means for releasably holding said fairing door at each of its said positions and detent means carried by said strut means engageable by said landing gear for the initial opening of said fairing door at a greater rate of movement than said landing gear.

l. In a fairing installation for a retractable aircraft landing gear including aircraft, a landing gear movably mounted upon the aircraft, said aircraft containing a recess within which said landing gear is arranged to be retracted, fairing means carried by said landing gear arranged for closing a portion of said recess in the retracted position of the landing gear and a fairing door pivotally mounted upon the aircraft, the improvement of a resiliently-biased breakingstrut pivotally interconnecting the aircraft with said fairing door, hook means carried by said breaking strut adjacent its pivotal connection to said aircraft, detent means carried by said landing gear arranged to engage said hook means and break said breaking-strut during the last phase only of the retraction of said landing gear for automatically moving said fairing door into the position on which it closes a remaining portion of said retraction recess, the said hook means carried by said breaking-strut engageable by said detent means during the initial phase of extension of said landing gear arranged for the opening of said fairing door at a greater rate of movement than said landing gear.

5. In a fairing installation for a retractable landing gear, a landing gear movably mounted upon the aircraft structure, said aircraft containing a recess within which said landing gear is arranged to be retracted, fairing means carried by the said landing gear for closing a portion of said recess in the retracted position of the landing gear, a fairing door pivotally mounted upon the aircraft, a breaking strut pivotally interconnecting the aircraft with said fairing door, the said landing gear arranged to break said breaking strut during the last phase of the retraction of said landing gear for automatically moving said fairing door into the position in which it closes the remaining portion of said recess, and resilient biasing means associated with said breaking strut arranged to maintain said door in both its opened and closed positions.

6. In a fairing installation for a retractable landing gear, a landing gear movably mounted upon the aircraft structure, said aircraft containing a recess within which said landing gear is arranged to be retracted, fairing means carried by the said landing gear for closing a portion of said recess in the retracted position of the landing gear, a fairing door pivotally mounted upon the aircraft, a breaking strut pivotally interconnecting the aircraft with said fairing door, the said landing gear arranged to break said breaking strut during the last phase of the retraction of said landing gear for automatically moving said fairing door into the position in which it closes the remaining portion of said recess, resilient biasing means associated with said breaking strut arranged to maintain said door in both its opened and closed positions, detent means carried by said breaking strut for releasable engagement by said movable landing gear for drawing said breaking strut into its aligned position during the initial phase of the extension of said landing gear for the opening of said fairing door.

*1. In a fairing installation for a retractable landing gear, a landing gear movably mounted upon the aircraft structure, said aircraft containing a recess within which said landing gear is arranged to be retracted, fairing means carried by the said landing gear for closing a portion of said recess in the retracted position of the landing gear, a fairing door pivotally mounted upon the aircraft, a breaking strut pivotally interconnecting the aircraft with said fairing door, the said landing gear arranged to break said breaking strut during the last phase of the retraction of said landing gear for automatically moving said fairing door into the position in which it follows the retracting landing gear and closes the remaining portion of said recess, resilient biasing means associated with said break- Lig strut arranged to maintain said door in its opened and closed positions, detent means carried by said breaking strut for releasable engagement by said landing gear for drawing said breaking strut into its aligned position during the initial phase of extension of said landing gear for the opening of said fairing door, and locking means cooperatively carried by said fairing door and the aircraft structure for releasably retaining said fairing door in its closed position following the retraction of said landing gear.

8. In a fairing installation for a retractable landing gear, a landing gear movably mounted upon the aircraft structure, said aircraft containing a recess within which said landing gear is arranged to be retracted, fairing means carrie by the said landing gear for closing a portion of said recess in the retracted position of the landing gear, a fairing-door pivotally mounted upon the aircraft, a breaking strut pivotally interconnecting the aircraft with said fairing door, the said landing gear arranged to break said breaking strut during the last phase of the retraction of said landing gear for automatically moving said fairing door into the position in which it closes the remaining portion of said recess, resilient biasing means associated with said breaking strut arranged to maintain said door in its opened and closed positions, detent means carried by said breaking strut for releasable engagement by said landing'gear for drawing said breaking strut into its aligned position during the initial phase of extension of said landing gear for the opening of said fairing door, a locking means cooperatively carried by said fairing door and the aircraft structure for releasably retaining said fairing door in its closed position, and electric power means initiated by operation of the landing gear for the release of said fairing door locking means prior to extension of the landing gear.

9. In a fairing installation for a retractable landing gear, a compartment within the aircraft into which a landing gear is arranged to be retracted, fairing means operatively attached to the landing gear for closing a portion of said compartment, a fairing door pivotally mounted upon the aircraftfor the closing of the remainder of said retraction compartment, folding strut means for rigidly supporting said fairing door in its extended position, resilient biasing means operatively associated with said strut means arranged to urge said folding strut means beyond a dead-center position into either the extended or closed position of said fairing door and detent means carried by said folding strut means for engaging said landing gear assembly arranged in such manner that said folding strut means is moved to a position beyond its dead-center at which said resilient biasing means urges the folding strut means and its associated fairing door toward its extended and closed position as determined by the extension and retraction, respectively, of the landing gear.

10. In a fairing installation for a retractable landing gear, a compartment Within the aircraft into which the landing gear is arranged to be retracted, fairing means operatively attached to the landing gear for closing a portion of said compartment, a fairing door pivotally mounted upon the aircraft for the closing of the remainder of said retraction compartment, strut means for rigidly supporting said fairing door in its extended position, resilient biasing means operatively associated with said strut means arranged to urge said strut means beyond a dead-center position into either the extended or closed position of said fairing door, detent means carried by said strut means for engaging said landing gear assembly arranged in such manner that said strut means will be moved to a position beyond its dead-center at which said resilient biasing means urges the strut means and its as sociated fairing door toward its extended or closed position as determined by the extension or retraction, respectively of the landing gear, and locking means cooperatively carried by said fairing door and said aircraft structure for supplementing said resilient biasing means and releasably retaining said fairing door in its closed position.

11. In an aircraft, a retractable landing gear movably mounted upon the aircraft for retraction into a recess therein, a fairing door pivotally mounted upon the aircraft arranged to close the said recess, mechanism for the actuation of said fairing door comprising a breaking strut assembly pivotally interconnecting the aircraft structure with said fairing door at its outer terminals and intermediately connected at a breaking pivot, resilient biasing means interconnecting the separate strut elements of said breaking strut assembly, abutting surfaces carried by the adjacent ends of said strut elements for limiting the relative movement thereof to an aligned position, a projecting portion carried by said landing gear,

and recessed detent means carried by one of said strut elements engageable by said projecting portion of said movable landing gear for the unfolding of said breaking strut assembly assisted by said resilient means for opening said fairing door in advance of said retractable landing gear in the initial stage of its extending movement from said recess.

12. In aircraft, a fairing installation for a retractable landing gear movably associated with said aircraft for retraction into a recess therein, a fairing door pivotally mounted upon the aircraft arranged to close a portion of said landing gear recess, a pair of breaking strut door actuator elements pivotally interconnected at their adjacent terminals, said strut elements pivotally connected to the aircraft and said fairing door at their opposite outer terminals, resilient means interconnecting said strut elements arranged to urge said elements beyond a dead-center position into either the aligned or folded position, and actuating means cooperatively carried by one of said strut elements and said movable landing gear for carrying said strut element to either side of the said dead-center position dependent upon extension or retraction of said landing gear for the automatic opening and closing of said recess by the said fairing door.

13. In a retractable landing gear installation for an aircraft, a landing gear assembly, a recess within the aircraft means for retracting said landing gear assembly from an extended operative position into a retracted position within said recess, first fairing means carried by said landing gear assembly for closing a portion of said retraction recess, second fairing means pivotally mounted upon the aircraft and arranged for the automatic closing of the remainder of said retraction recess upon retraction of said landing gear assembly, and two-position resiliently-biased breaking-strut means arranged for maintaining said second fairing means closed in the retracted position of said landing gear assembly.

14. In a retractable landing gear installation for an aircraft, a landing gear operatively supported from the aircraft structure, a recess within the aircraft structure, means for retracting said landing gear into said recess, a first fairing means carried by said landing gear arranged for the closing of a portion of said recess upon retraction of the landing gear, second fairing means operatively supported from the aircraft structure and arranged for the automatic closing of the remainder of said retraction recess upon retraction of said landing gear, and twoposition means including a resiliently-biased breaking-strut arranged to maintain said second fairing means in its closed relationship with respeot to said retraction opening when said landing gear is in its retracted position.

15. In a retractable landing gear installation for an aircraft, a landing gear operatively supported from the aircraft, a recess within the aircraft, means for retracting said landing gear into said recess, a first fairing means carried by said landing gear arranged to close a portion of said recess upon retraction of the landing gear, a second fairing means operatively supported from the aircraft arranged for the automatic closing of the remainder of said retraction recess upon retraction of said landing gear, and two position means including a resiliently biased breaking strut pivotally interconnected between the air nnrnnnnoss orrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,362,919 Miller Nov. 14, 1944 2,439,898 Wallace Nov. 18, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 691,667 Germany June 3, 1940 

